Improvement in car-brakes



2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

A M. ALLEN.

Gar-Brake.

Patented Jan. l1, ISJYOQ NJEERS. PNDTD-LITHOGHAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. Q

lniied tant @nicht @twine Letters Patent No. 98,781, dated January-11, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-BRAKES.-

`The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern: v 4

Be it known that I, ARTHUR M. ALLEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gar-Brakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will, enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which drawin'g- Figure 1 represents a plan or topview of this invention. Figure 2 is a -longitudinal vertical section of the same, the line x as, g. 1, indicating the plane of section.

Figure?) is a sideelevation of the same. Figure 4 is a transverse section of the same, taken in the place indicated by the line y y, lig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows opposite that line.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts. This invention relates to acer-brake, inwhich hinged tiack-shoes'are used,` which are depressed upon the track or the rails, -either by means of a 1ever-cam, or by the action of `a bell-crank toggle.

The faces of 'the track-shoes are secured to rigid blocks, and they are iliade elastic, and so arranged that they can accommodate themselves to the un'- evenness of the track without requiring any eXtra springs o r elastic cushions'.

The blocks of the shoes and the facesw'are so constructed that only a portion of the face is brought into action at a time; and, if this vportion has been worn out, the face can be reversed, and its remaining portion be brought into action. Y

With the track-shoes are combined friction-straps,

each of which can be made to bear simultaneously -on both wheels on one side of a truck, and which are 4operated by the same mechanism that servesto operate the track-shoes. Y

The beams, to which the track-shoes are attached, are braced or supported by suitable braces or straps.

In the drawing- The letter A'designat-es the frame of a truck, which rests on four wheels, B B, mouiited on axles C, in the usual manner.

To the transverse timbers a of 4this truck are secured the hangers b, which support the beam c, to which are attached the brake-shoes D.

The beams c are braced or supported in their position by straps d, extending from the ends ofthe truck-frame, through under said beams, as shown in figs. 2 and 3, l

These straps may, however, be replaced by braces of any other construction, capable of imparting to the beams c the requisite firmness.I

The brake-shoesDact on the rails, instead of on the wheels, as usual, and I therefore term them track-shoes. They are composed of strong blocks, e, of iron or any other suitable material, to which the faces f are secured by means of screws, or in any other desirable manner.

These faces are made of elastic metal plates, Steel being preferred, and they are attached to the blocks c in such' a manner that they can yield, and accommodate-'themselves to the inequalities or nnevenness of the track on which they are brought to bear.

The blocks e are connected to the beams c by means of hinge-joints g, and their loose ends are subjected to the action ofa lever-cam, h, as shown in fig. 4, or to that of a bell-crank toggle, i, as shown in lig. 3, so that, by said lever-cam or bell-crank toggie, the faces of the track-shoes can be brought to bear on the tops of the rails, andthereby the motion of the truck is checked.

The lever-cam is secured-to the end of one of the beams c,.and it has its fulcrum on a pivot, j, so that, by raising the inner end'of the same, its cam-shaped outer end bears ou the block of the track-shoe, and= depresses the same upon the rail below.

'.lhe pivot j may bemafie adjustable, so that the position of the'lever-'cam can be accommodated to any wear taking place in the face of the track-shoe.

The bell-crank toggle i consists of a bell-crank lever, t1, which is pivoted to the block of the track.

shoe, and has its fulcrum on a pivot, i?, in the endl of an arm, i, as seen in fig. 3, so that, by raising the loose arm of the bell-crank, the arm i3, together with the pivoted arm of the bell-crank, acts as a toggle, whereby'the track-shoe is'depressed with great force.

The track-shoes, being hinged at one end, are so constructed, that by depressing them upon the rails, a portion of their faces only is brought into action; and, if this portion ofthe 'faces has worn out, said faces canbedetachedvand reversed, so that the remaining portion will comev into action.

AThe lever-canili., which serves to depress the trackshoes, is alsoconnected, by means of a rope or chain, 7c, with afriction-strap, I, which extends over the two wheels on one side of the truck, (see figs. 2 and 4,) so

that, by the action of said lever-cam, the frictionstrap l is caused to bear upon the peripheries of the wheels, while, at the same time, the track-shoes are depressed upon the rails.

By these means, the motion of the truck can be effectually stopped with comparatively little power.

What 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The arrangement of hinged track-shoes D, constructed and operating substantially as described.

2. The arrangement of elastic o r yielding faces fon the rigid blocks e of vthe track-shoes, substantially as set forth.

3. The track-shoe l), pivoted at one end, leaving its other` end free, in combination with the camflever:`

il?, bearing against said free end, and operating as set orth.

4. The bell-crank toggle i, in combination with the track shoes D, constructed and operating substantially as set forth.

5. The single strap l, passing over all wheels of each side of the trck, in combination with a brake, acting against the track, and both operated simultaneously by a single lever, the whole as set forth.

6. The beam e, in combination with track-shoes,

tially as described.

' ARTHUR M. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

W. fHAUFF, C. WAHLERS. 

